How democrats running for president are trying to grab headlines and voters in an historically jampacked field. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. We begin today with the politics lead. President trump today continues to belittle Russian Election interference in the 2016 president ial election, as well as continued election interference in the u. S. By russia. The president going so far as to say he discussed what he called the, quote, russian hoax in an hourlong phone call with russian president Vladimir Putin. The two leaders discussed a range of topics including the president tweeted, trade, venezuela, ukraine, north korea, nuclear arms control, and even the, quote, russian hoax. The president went on to tell reporters later that he did not tell putin to stop engaging in election interference, which remains, according to President Trumps own Top National Security officials, a continuing threat to the United States. Based on the president s public statements and apparently his private ones with Vladimir Putin, the man who led and continues to lead Cyber Attacks on the United States, the president is more concerned with underlining that special Counsel Robert Mueller was not able to find sufficient evidence that any members of his team engaged in criminal conspiracy with russia, than he is focused on this continued threat from putin and putins intelligence services. The president continues to say things about the Mueller Investigation that are simply not true, including in this tweet, quote, the Mueller Report strongly stated that there was no collusion with russia, of course. And in fact, they, the russians, were rebuffed at every turn in attempts to gain access. It is not true that the russians were rebuffed at every turn. It is a lie. The Mueller Report details any number of instances when russians were welcomed with open arms by members of the trump team, including, for instance, the russian government lawyer, offering dirt on Hillary Clinton and getting a meeting at trump tower with the president s son, soninlaw, and campaign chairman. This all, of course, comes as congress is investigating whether the president obstructed justice by trying to stop the fbi and Mueller Investigations. As part of that, House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed former white House Counsel don mcgahn, who told mueller that President Trump told him to have mueller fired. President trump disputes that. And now the president seems to be signaling he wants mcgahn to defy the subpoena. Cnns white house correspondent, abby phillip, kicks off our coverage. Did you tell him not to meddle in the next election . We didnt discuss that. Reporter President Trump today speaking with russian president Vladimir Putin about the Mueller Investigation, but he didnt bring up the reports major finding that russia interfered in the 2016 election. Mr. President , did you address the election meddling issues that came up in the Mueller Report with president putin today . We discussed it. He actually sort of smiled when he said something to the effect that it started off as a mountain and it ended up being a mouse, but he knew that, because he knew there was no collusion whatsoever. So pretty much thats what it was. As i have said in the past reporter but thats hardly how mueller would put it. Mueller found insufficient evidence to prove criminal conspiracy, but the investigation concluded the russian government interfered in the 2016 president ial election in sweeping and systemic fashion to help trump win, and that the Trump Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through russian efforts. Mr. Mcgahn, was it a mistake meantime, President Trump appears ready to shut down efforts by Congressional Democrats to force former white House Counsel don mcgahn to testify on possible obstruction of justice. Appearing to hedge a little after giving a much more definitive answer just last night on his favorite channel. So i dont think can i let him and then tell everybody else you cant, because especially him, because he was a counsel. And just yesterday, President Trump disparaged president obamas response to russian interference in 2016, saying that president obama could have confronted putin, but didnt. He said he did nothing. But thats actually not true. President obama did directly confront putin, face to face in a meeting, but President Trump in his first phone call with putin since the Mueller Report was released appeared to not be interested in talking at all about the major finding of Mueller Report on russian interference. Jake . All right, abby phillip. And abby joins our experts here. Bill, i want to play again, actually, this is new, i think, something that President Trump said earlier today. Describing how he talked about the russian hoax with Vladimir Putin. Take a listen. Sort of smiled when he said something to the effect that it started off as a mountain and it ended up being a mouse, but he knew that, because he knew there was no collusion whatsoever. So pretty much thats what it was. I mean, once again, it seems like President Trump taking the word of Vladimir Putin over his own top intelligence and National Security officials, who say, there was Russian Election interference, period. In helsinki, he took putins word over the intelligence community. Now hes taking president putins word over the special counsel, a 400 plus page report, none of which has been quarreled with, not only has it been disproved, but as the Trump Administration even tried to, you know, discredit any fact in that report . Im really struck . Remember, Rudy Giuliani was preparing a response and they were going to hit back. Literally, is there a sentence in that report that even responsible person has said or shown or even suggested is inaccurate . So we have a report suggesting system i think russian interference in the election, and not only President Trump doesnt even raise it with president putin, but accepts president putins notion that this is all a hoax. And eli, you heard President Trump saying that he didnt bring up Russian Election interference. Lets remind people that the special counsel found that the russian government interfered in the 2016 president ial election in sweeping and systemic fashion, to help President Trump get elected. And, quote, that the campaign, the Trump Campaign, expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through russian efforts. Now, okay, not enough for a criminal prosecution, i get it. But still, how does the president not bring this up . Right. Weve gotten hung up on this question of what it takes to charge something as a crime and arent focused on the clear evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the president. And frankly on the part of the president s campaign. Now, perhaps you could not charge them with quote unquote collusion, even though we all know thats not a federal crime. We, they didnt charge him with conspiracy, they didnt even try. But that doesnt mean the conduct was proper for the president of the United States. Look, i think the problem here is not with the president , frankly even with Vladimir Putin, its with the Congressional Republicans that are letting the president off the hook with respect to this conduct. With respect to sitting down or talking to Vladimir Putin and agreeing with him over the advice wait, wait. Im as happy as anyone to attack the Congressional Republicans, but last i looked, this is the Democratic Party that controls the house of representatives. And if the president committed impeachable acts, maybe the Democratic Party in the house of representatives should start moving on that. But something i think were going to talk about today is all the attempts that the democrats are making to try to hold the president accountable. But going back to the beginning of this presidency, because the president remains popular with his base, theyre giving a free pass on look, Ronald Reagan should be rolling over in his grave at the kinds of statements that were seeing President Trump agree with. And one of the startling things about bill barrs testimony on the hill this week is that he was asked repeatedly about these questions. Was it okay for the Trump Campaign to have done all of these things that were listed out in the Mueller Report . And each time he refused to answer the question, even when they were asked by a republican senator in that case. So its not just republican senators on capitol hill. In fact, some of them are calling this behavior out. But its also the attorney general, bill barr, who doesnt even want to go there. You know, below the bar for charging a crime, what is right and whats wrong. And kerstin, lets not forget, about three weeks ago, Rudy Giuliani, the president s attorney on state of the union told me that theres nothing wrong forget illegal nothing wrong with getting information from the russians, depending on what it is. That seems to be where now this conversation has shifted. That actually this seems to be an argument thats being made. And that, you know, that bill barr declined to really address that issue. And it should be illegal, it seems like. And it also seems like the president should be angry when hes talking to putin about what has been laid out so clearly in terms of what russia was doing and that they plan to do it again. And hes not. One other thing that was interesting on the call today, take a listen to the president talking about how he believes putin on the subject of venezuela. Putin claiming that hes not interested in interfering in venezuela, despite everything weve heard from secretary of state mike pompeo and all sorts of other u. S. Officials. Take a listen. He is not looking at all to get involved in venezuela, other than hed like to see something positive happen for venezuela. Directly contradicting statements made by secretary of state pompeo, National Security adviser bolton, who have called out russia specifically for propping up the dictator, the socialist dictator maduro. And weve done stories on the show about how there are Russian Troops in venezuela right now. Yeah. And i mean, pompeo has said this on this network, earlier this week, that he believed that maduro was about to leave venezuela, but was convinced not to do it by the russians. John bolton stood outside of the white house. I was standing right in front of him when he said he believed the cubans and the russians were propping up maduros regime spop the president has a phone call with Vladimir Putin and similarly to russian interference. Putin tells him something, and the president s response to that is, oh, youre right. And then he repeats it to the press. And this is now the new narrative from the administration. But it really goes against everything. The entire Foreign Policy strategy when it comes to venezuela. And it will be interesting to see how mike pompeo and john bolton shift, now, their language around russias interference in venezuela, which is a huge part of that puzzle. And bill, just to point out. President trump is not saying, well, this is what putin claims. Right. He is giving putins point of view, almost as if he is the spokesman for the kremlin. He is not looking at all to get involved in venezuela. There are Russian Troops in venezuela. This is the president taking putins word on venezuela and on interference. To kerstins point, when he was a candidate, fine, stait was a sloppy campaign. He is president now. Even if he did some stuff in the campaign, as president of the United States he has a phone conversation for an hour with the president of russia and d doesnt rebuke him for an attack on our electoral system and takes his word over the manifest obvious facts that russia is in venezuela. Its a recurring theme. And take this out of the National Security context, overruling the opinions of career officials, lawyers, the Justice Department and just the facts on the ground, as theyre being as were witnessing them ourselves. Everyone, stick around, the chairman of the senate Judiciary Committee just vitd special Counsel Robert Mueller testify. But theres a big if in the conversation. And next, how do you stand out in a crowd of 21 democratic president ial candidates. The lengths to which some of these candidates are going. Coming up. Ancestry is celebrating all the oneofakind women we call mom. With an engaging new experience. Ancestrydna can help her uncover her history. 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See how lincoln can help protect your savings from the impact of longterm care expenses at lincolnfinancial. Com. In our politics lead, republican senator lynd suindse graham of South Carolina just invited special Counsel Robert Mueller to testify before the Judiciary Committee, if he has any issues with how attorney general bill barr initially handled the release of the Mueller Report. Lets go right now to cnns Sunlen Serfaty on capitol hill. Graham sent a letter to mueller and brought up one particular section of testimony from Wednesdays Senate hearing with attorney general barr. What was it . Thats right. Jake, this relates to a phone call between bill barr and Robert Mueller that bill barr talked about during his testimony up here on wednesday. Barr told the committee on wednesday that when they spoke on the phone, that mueller told him that he did not think that the fourpage summary that barr provided to congress was inaccurate, but barr said that mueller told him he was unhappy, specifically, with the Media Coverage of barr summary. And that, of course, is a much different tone and much different stance than what we all know now from the letter that mueller sent to barr outlining his complaints. The chairman of the committee, Lindsey Graham, is essentially saying, go ahead, Robert Mueller, come in and refute the point that the attorney general made under oath here. Graham says in his letter, quote, please inform the committee, if you would like to provide testimony regarding any misrepresentation by the attorney general of the substance of that phone call. But jake, it is very unclear at this point what graham specifically means when he says provide testimony, because he has been repeatedly, adamantly against coming in to testify before hi kes committee. Still unclear what form that takes. First, let me ask you a question. Youre a former assistant attorney general at the Justice Department. The president said this decision about whether don mcgahn, his former white House Counsel, should comply with the subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee to testify. The president said a decision will be made on mcgahn testifying in the next week or so, but he obviously signaled that he does not think he should. Can the president stop mcgahn, who is now a private citizen, even though he was his white House Counsel, from testifying. He can kick and scream, but don mcgahn is a private citizen. The president doesnt want him to testify, but the president is trying to have it both ways by claiming to be the most open and transparent president in American History and manufacturing these claims on executive privilege that are actually quite thin. Hes waived a lot of them by disclosing the substance of his conversations with mcgahn. Most of them were waived once the report got submitted to congress and submitted to the public and so on. So he doesnt really have much of a ground to stand on. He can kick and scream and its sort of like rolling it out in a tv preview. Ill make the decision in a week. Make the decision on it. Youve had plenty of time to think about it. And the other question i have for you as an attorney is, mcgahn testified and cooperated with mueller. And that area, obviously, executive privilege was waived. Can he now invoke executive privilege, whether its mcgahn or President Trump, given that it was waived once before . No, it was waived once before and it will extend to another proceeding. The other thing is, were confusing the president is pretty clearly confusing the difference between the special counsel investigation and congress. Its not functionally the same. So the mere fact that he testified before doesnt preclude him from going to congress. But again, its sort of like, you know, its the privilege that you have with your spouse, right . It exists once of you waives it its gone. Its like invoking the fifth amendment. Once you invoke, its gone. You cant unring the bell. Lets go back to whether or not mueller should testify. Take a listen to President Trump asked earlier today whether he thought the special counsel should testify . Mr. President , should mueller testify . Would you like to see him testify . I dont know, thats up to our attorney general, who i think has done a fantastic job. But barr testified earlier this week that he has no problem with mueller testifying. I think the president is making the last part of that is the most important to the president , because i think hes basically signaling to the world that he thinks mueller is going to make the best decision as it relates to him. Whether or not that is true whether mueller will or im sorry, barr will make the best decision as it relates to the president. We dont know if that is true or not. But barr has already indicated that he has no problem with it. He sees that as sort of par for the course. It hasnt actually gotten to a Decision Point yet, it doesnt seem. But when hes up against that decision, it will remain to be seen. And i think its clear President Trump doesnt want anybody testifying anymore on this subject. Hes said repeatedly, he thinks that this case is closed and that giving anymore to democrats only fuels these investigations that he calls harassment. And so, i wouldnt be you know, whats interesting to me is how the president s relationship with barr might change if barr does allow mueller to testify or simply doesnt stand in the way of it. Lindsey graham, whats he doing here . Its interesting, because he had said very clearly, this is done, im over, if the democrats want to do it on the house, thats their thing, but as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, im not going to do it. But now hes saying, if you have anything that contradicts from what weve heard on barr, you can come on in. Im assuming hes doing this because he thinks that mueller is going to back up barr. I dont think Lindsey Graham has any interest unless something has shifted in his thinking in making the attorney general look bad or making the president look bad. But what doesnt make sense is that the letter clearly states the problem. So its in writing. Mueller took the time to write this letter, to say what the problem is, and he didnt say anything about Media Coverage. Now, its possible he said that the Media Coverage wasnt accurate, but that wasnt his primary complaint. Wasnt in the letter. His primary complaint which he took the time to write down had nothing to do with Media Coverage. I just think i mean, the house of representatives has, in my view, an absolute obligation to hear from Robert Mueller in a formal hearing. I think they have an obligation to hear from don mcgahn. Mcgahn reported that the president urged him to lie about something, first to fire mueller and then to lie about it. The president has denied that. The house has to see what how what the truth is as well as they can. And have mcgahn testify. And i think the House Foreign Affairs committee has an obligation to call secretary pompeo at the beginning of next week and say, what is our venezuela policy . Its not a joking thing we encouraged a rebellion there. People are getting killed. Weve worked very closely with allies to put pressure on the government. This is actually an important Foreign Policy matter. And actually, i would say on this one more than most, the administration seems to be working fairly coherently until today and now the president has called into question and there are people going into the streets in venezuela and to hear the president say no problem with the russians. And on that point, Sarah Sanders was literally just asked about the disconnect between pompeo and the president on this. And she said, the president s just repeating what putin told him, which goes back to the origin problem. Why is the president simply repeating what Vladimir Putin tells him. Stick around, from playing beer pong to capitalizing on the moment President Trump calls you a name, democratic hopefuls are pulling out all the stops in trying to stand out in a crowd field. Stay with us. 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Well, from sparring with the president to viral social media moments, cnns jessica dean now takes a look at how the Democratic Candidates are trying to fight for attention in this historically crowded field. Reporter in a field of 21 contenders, democrats are looking for their big moment to break out from the pack. I think youve made it clear that youve not looked at the evidence. We can move on. I think youve made it clear, sir, that youve not looked at the evidence and we can move on. Reporter senator Kamala Harris questioning of attorney general william barr this week going viral, drawing the attention of President Trump. Well, she was probably very nasty. Reporter harris is now fo d fraizing you have that moment. Writing to reporters, nasty clm it seems like anytime donald trump feels threatened by a strong woman, he lashes out with this gross, weird attack. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand also used the hearing as a way to grab the spotlight. I am tired of the statement i get over and over from the chain of command. We got this, maam, we got this. You dont have it youre failing us reporter meantime, senator Amy Klobuchar is focusing on policy as a way to stand out, rolling out a plan to Prioritize Mental Health and combat addiction. Shes talked openly about her fathers struggle with alcoholism. When he went to treatment, in his words, he was pursued by grace. So that has pushed me. Reporter governor jay inslee, who had made combatting Climate Change the central theme of his candidacy today unveiled his plan to implement 100 Clean Energy Standards for key sectors of the u. S. Economy. There is a dark cloud over america. And that is the dark cloud of Climate Change. Reporter his announcement follows beto orourkes release of his own Climate Change change plan earlier this week. His first major 2020 policy proposal. This country needs direction when it comes to meeting the single greatest threat that weve ever faced. Reporter polls support focusing on Climate Change is a good strategy. 82 of democrats say that issue is very important. And while each of those candidates mentioned in that story are doing what they can to stand out, they all continue to poll well behind Bernie Sanders and joe biden right now, jake. Jessica dean thanks so much. Sunlen kim joins us now. Thank you so much. You saw what happened with this hugely crowded field of republicans in 2016. Might that dynamic play here as well in the sense that Somebody Just gets 30, 35 of support in the party and then gets the nomination . Yeah and i think whats important to remember, too, is that the democrats broadly want someone who can beat donald trump and they want their Party Unified this time, so whoever the nominee is, even if it isnt their primary favorite, its pretty clear they will most likely align behind whoever the nominee is when theyre determined next year. But it is significanting to see all the different ways to see that different candidate in this field of 21 are trying to distinguish themselves. You have you can either pick a policy that you kind of become the policy person on, whether its jay inslee on climate or Eric Swalwell has been trying to do that with Gun Legislation or just kind of make your mark or something that youre good at. So Kamala Harris, you really saw her shine this week when shes been just kind of, according to reports on the trail, has been kind of struggling in a couple of circumstances, but when shes on the dais and questioning bill barr, you saw the prosecutorial skills that really kind of propelled her to the national stage. And shes clearly having a good week. And she was attacked by President Trump, who called her nasty. And shes keeping this alive. She did a whole bunch of shows to talk about it. Shes sending out a fundraising email after the president said she was nasty during barrs testimony hearing, his wednesday testimony. Smart move . Yeah, definitely. I mean, i think that they all have to be doing whatever they can to try to break out and to latch on to whatever is happening that can get them into the media cycle, right . Because it is such a crowded field that you have to kind of find whatever you can, really, you know, whether its making attacks against people or latching on to, you know, opportunities like that. And the goal right now for a lot of these candidates is to get that 65,000 donor threshold in order to be included in the debates, the democratic debates that begin in june and july. And Julian Castro and cory booker both announced today that they had both made that threshold, 65,000 contributors. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of new york still has not. Its not for lack of trying. Shes making her case on social media, including this new video of her playing beer pong, like a good dartmouth grad, saying, if kirsten makes this shot, will you donate . Thats a really good question. We have to give credence to something that a lot of polls are showing, which is that women candidates in this race are just simply not doing as well was male candidates. And thats not a new phenomenon, but it is a real thing. And i think that we should actually acknowledge that. But i also think that there are a lot of people in this race that voters are looking at them and asking them, why you running for president . And you have to make that case to people. And i dont know, but its perhaps she hasnt quite done that yet, she hasnt had a breakout moment. So its going to be tough for you, if you cant kind of break through in this very crowded field like some other folks have, whether its buttigieg or even beto, before he even got into the race or biden in his first week, when he successfully got President Trump to start attacking him, you have to start breaking out and she hasnt quite had that moment. None of the town halls have really worked for her. Look, i do think theres a problem in terms of, theres been a disparate amount of coverage of some of the male candidates to the female candidates and ive heard a lot of complaining from people on their staffs. But one thing i will say is that the women candidates are so careful, you know . And they dont the male candidates are much more free wheeling certainly bernie and biden. Yeah, they dont really apologize, they say what they want to say, theyre very authentic. And i think women, most women can relate to this, are always afraid of making mistakes or always trying to really think things through before they do them. And these male candidates are just much more accessible. If you want to get an interview with Pete Buttigieg, its not that difficult. In fact, i think everyone has interviewed him at this point. Its very hard to get an interview with Kamala Harris. So i think that theyre all very, very careful. On Kirsten Gillibrand has a problem because of the al franken stuff still, you really think . I do. I think on the left, she has a real problem, there are people that are very angry at her about that and saw it as being fairly or not fairly im not say it was but saw it as her being opportunistic. So thats kind of always been the again, fair or not fair thats what people have always felt about her. And bill, buttigieg has gotten a lot of stuff, a lot of profiles, theres a new one in vogue with a glam shot. But hes been taking a lot of hits for not being more specific on policy and not actually having a policy page and more. Liz warren, on the other hand, policy after policy, day after day, even a shirt that they sell, liz has a plan for it, or Something Like that. Does it matter to voters whether you have policies or not . You can run has the policyheavy candidate and its one way to distinguish yourself. But one can look at the race two ways. 21, 22 with bill de blasio, the mayor of new york all scrambling to getting candidate or joe biden and 22 other candidates. And i think these two weeks suggest that biden is in a category by himself. He may well fade, he may ultimately not pull it off, but right now he is so strong in the polls and i think has matched up with trump in a way that makes it look like he could take on trump, that its him and everyone else trying to be the alternative to him. It is early. He hasnt done a tough interview yet, he hasnt done a town hall yet or a debate, but who knows. But absolutely, hes had a great couple of weeks. The u. S. Economy just did something that has not been done since Richard Nixon was president and thousands of americans were still coming down from woodstock. Stay with us. Background] [music and singing in the background] [music and singing in the background] omar, check this out. Uh, yeah, i was calling to see if you do laser hair removal. For men. Notice that my hips are off the ground. [ engine revving ] and then, im gonna pike my hips back into downward dog. [ rhythmic tapping ] hey, the rain stopped. A bad day on the road still beats a good one off it. Tell me about that dental procedure again i can still taste it in my mouth progressive helps keep you out there. The money lead. A double shot of winning for President Trump, as he banks on strong economic numbers today to help him win reelection next year. Just moments ago, dow finished up almost 200 points. That on the heels of todays huge jobs report, showing the Unemployment Rate is down to 3. 6 , the lowest in nearly 50 years, since december 1969. The president touched on that this afternoon at the white house. Our economy is raging. And when we have an economy that may be is the best economy weve ever had, people tend to like you. Does the president get enough credit for the economy . It really is doing astoundingly well. Exactly. And the economy is by far his best case for reelection. And if hes not getting the sufficient credit for the economy, its a lot of it because he steps on his own message. Again with these bafo economic news, you would be expecting the president to talk about it every day, just hammering that home in different messaging campaigns, but a lot of times he likes to talk about other things and he has a tendency to step on his own message. We were going to lead with the economy on the show, it was going to be the first block, we were going to sing the numbers that we just sang, and President Trump decided to talk to Vladimir Putin and talk about russia hoax and all of that. Todays a perfect example of that. White house aides were blanketing tv all day today, scheduled to talk about economic numbers they knew were coming out today, because they always come out on the first friday of the month. And instead, halfway through the day, this, with trump and putin yet again throwing everything off of message. That could have been maybe the first day ive been covering this president since the beginning, i dont think ive ever experienced a full day of the white house carrying out a message on the economy, on the one thing that they have, that they can trumpet, and its because the president always steps on his own message. He was feeling really good this morning about where things are going, about the Mueller Report being done. He talked to putin and then everything went out the window. And you heard the president say, when the economys doing well, people tend to like you. A slightly different message than Mick Mulvaney said the other day. Take a listen. Its pretty simple, right . Its the economy, stupid. I think thats easy. People will vote for somebody they dont like if they think its good for them. So, essentially, President Trump, theyll like me because the economy. Mulvaney is like, theyre not going to like you, but vote for you anyway. I think mulvaney probably has that right. If you have a good economy, you typically your likelihood of getting reelected definitely goes up. I do think that that the Unemployment Rate is low, theres still problems in the economy. And its not even when hes saying like best economy ever, which i know he says, but even if you compare it to sort of the 90s when the economy was really thriving, it was a very different environment. I mean, i think people really felt like they had a lot more money than people have today. And that the wage stagnation you know, wages have barely moved for most people, unless youre at the very top of the income ladder. And the job growth is with Service Economy jobs, 30,000 a year and under, and big ones, jobs at computer programmers, 80,000, 90,000, nothing in the middle. Were exactly nine months away from the first in the nation iowa caucus which will take place on february 3rd, 2020. Cnns jeff zeleny, a former Des Moines Register reporter himself is in the hawkeye state, talking to democratic voters pant what they are looking for in a candidate. Its good to be back in hawkeye country, ill tell you what, its been a while thank you, iowa reporter joe biden and Bernie Sanders are the far and away frontrunners in the democratic president ial race. Or are they . Hello, West Des Moines you want to win in iowa, youve got to campaign theaway. Reporter theaway means one thing for certain. Frontrunners can be fleeting. One voter after another sharing a similar sentiment. The 2020 race is as wide open as a country highway. Do you think at this point there is a frontrunner in the race nine months before the Iowa Caucuses . No. I dont think there is. I think right now, its still wide open. Jane and ed cranston are following the democratic primary far closer than most. Often the race comes right into their living room, like when they hosted a visit from Julian Castro. Thank you all for coming. And for this amazing turnout. Reporter theyre in no hurry to pick a favorite, saying they want to watch the candidates grow and be tested. Well, i think you hit the nail on the head. Its who can win. And thats a hard thing to judge, especially so early. But thats what everybody is looking for. Excitement is critical. I mean, bernie has got a lot of people excited. And so, you know, we still need that excitement. When biden visited earlier this week, ed was there, going in for a handshake. He didnt disappoint. Nine months before the Iowa Caucuses opened the democratic nominating contest, the field of candidates now stands at 21 with a mix of old faces and new ones. That speaks to a critical question facing voters. What do you say to some democrats who say, time for some new blood . New blood that would lose would really be horrible, wouldnt it . I think Pete Buttigieg is wonderful. But biden has so much more experience and i want a president who would be ready from day one. Jan carrigan says she loves joe biden but doesnt believe she can vote for him. This is a terrible thing to say, but its his age. And i know thats wrong, thats not politically correct to say that. Reporter she actually likes cory booker, but is keeping an open mind. And attended an organizing session this week for elizabeth warren. Now, senator warren has more paid staffers here on the ground in iowa than any other campaign. Jake, shes trying to build an organization here. I can tell you, after talking to voters across the state all week long, yes, theyre looking for a winner, they just dont know who that may be. But joe biden can tell his rivals, iowa is so important, his two previous campaigns, of course, extinguished here in iowa. Jake . Jeff zeleny, nine months to go until the iowa caucus. How drama and infighting at the nra is leaving the powerful lobbying group vulnerable. Stay with us. Hnology to help make banking easier, like. Pnc easy lock, so you can easily lock your credit card when its maximum limit differs from its vertical limit. And clover flex, for when you need to take credit cards when no one carries cash. Or requesting a call to help get a new credit card one that hasnt followed the family goldfish. Pnc make today the day. vo be the first to experience augmented reality that feels like reality. Be first to real time with verizon 5g ultra wideband. On verizon. With uncontrolled moderatetosevere eczema,n who got an awful skin condition. Or atopic dermatitis, you feel like youre itching all the time. And you never know how your skin will look. Because deep within your skin an overly sensitive immune system could be the cause. So help heal your skin from within, with dupixent. Dupixent is not a steroid, and it continuously treats your eczema even when you cant see it. At 16 weeks, nearly four times more patients taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin compared to those not taking it, and patients saw a significant reduction in itch. Do not use if you are allergic to dupixent. Serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, a severe reaction. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems, including eye pain or changes in vision. If you are taking asthma medicines, do not change or stop your asthma medicine without talking to your doctor. Help heal your skin from within. Ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. In our buried lead, thats what we call stories that we do not think are getting enough attention, Senate Democrats are now looking into alleged shady financial dealings of the nra, which could threaten the Gun Rights Group tax exempt status. The nra was asked to turn over letters, audits, and memos capping a tumultuous week. Oliver north was pushed out of the group and the new York State Attorney general launched an investigation. Cnns tom foreman now takes a closer look. A bitter lawsuit between the nra and its ad agency. A wall street journal report about hundreds of thousands of dollars allegedly improperly spent on travel and personal clothing and whispers about some officers possibly enriching themselves at the groups expense. Nothing has been proven yet, and the nra says all is in order. But the uproar is spurring Democratic Senators to demand internal documents from outgoing president oliver north that could jeopardize the organizations nonprofit status. Ive been following oliver for a long time. Great guy. Despite relentless praise from President Trump, whos received massive Financial Support from the nra ill never let you down. The internal chaos has opened a floodgate for opposing forces. In new york state, the attorney general is now investigating the groups activities. The governor saying, if they broke the law, they should be held accountable. In d. C. , even with record spending on lobbying, the groups legislative clout is weakening against democratic gains. And highprofile Mass Shootings in recent years have energized gun control advocates. But its not just on the left. Around the nra convention, just this week, the groups president , north, demanded the resignation of longtime chief executive Wayne Lapierre over these claims of financial mismanagement. Lapierre in turn accused north of extortion. North lost and was pushed out. People walk up to me and say, wayne, i dont know how you do it with all the hate and all the bias in the media. And all the dishonest politics. Well, ill tell you. The only reason i can keep up this fight is because of you. Still, trump has tweeted the nra needs to get its act together quickly, stop the internal fighting, and get back to greatness, fast. The nra is not saying a whole lot, except that it will cooperate with investigators. They dont expect any illeg illegalities to be found. But if they were to lose their taxexempt status, that could impinge upon the very existence of this organization. And north needs to go into more details publicly about what hes alleging. He hasnt said anything. Tom foreman, thanks so much. Devastating flooding that has not been seen in decades. Cnns ryan young is live for us in the midwest, specifically, davenport, iowa. Ryan . Reporter right behind me, thats the mississippi there. And you can see the damage thats been caused by the water. Look, theyve been underwater for some 30 days, and now they want help, but theyre starting to battle back. Well tell you whats coming up and why they think they may be able to beat this coming up nina live report. I assembled it myself last night. I think i did an ok job. Just ok . What if something bad happens . We just move to the next town. Just ok is not ok. Especially when it comes to your network. At t is americas best Wireless Network according to americas biggest test. Now with 5g evolution. The first step to 5g. More for your thing. Thats our thing. Who wanted to get away who used expedia to book the Vacation Rental which led to the discovery that sometimes a little down time can lift you right up. Expedia. Everything you need to go. Todays Senior Living communities have never been better, with amazing amenities like movie theaters, exercise rooms and swimming pools, public cafes, bars and bistros even pet care services. 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Just one hearing test is all it took for him to hear more of her laugh. And less of the background noise around him. For helen, just one visit to her local miracleear is all it took to learn how she can share more moments with her daughter. Just one free hearing test could help you hear more. Laughter. Music. Life. Call now for your free hearing test from an Industry Leader miracleear. Our National Lead today takes us to the midwest of the United States, where flooding reached levels not seen in more than two decades. In some spots, cars are underwater and it may be this way for quite some time. Cnns ryan young is in davenport, iowa. Ryan, this looks awful. Reporter yeah, it does. Were just off river drive. You can see the two cars submerged there, but youve got to really think about the impact on people. Steven, my boat captain here, was nice enough to take us on a short tour. You can see the battle going on to save some of these businesses that are through here. But when you look around here, you can get a notice, this has been going for 24 hours as they try to get the water out of the back part of this business, but some of these businesses have been shut down for more than 24 hours. Theyve been underwater for more than 30 days. As weve been talking to emergency management, what theyre really talking about is the emergency assessment, as the water sits on top of some of these buildings, theyre concerned about some of the foundations weakening over time. And as we get closer to this intersection over here, well be able to show you how seven to eight cars were just trapped, all along the water banks here. Theyre also concerned about what could happen this weekend, as we make this turn here. Jake, take a look at how close we are to the mississippi. And you can see the four or five cars that have just been left sitting here. Theres no way to rescue this. You have to worry about everything when it comes to the rain that might be coming along with this weekend. You know the Economic Impact compaq has been pretty big, jake. All right. Ryan young, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Tune into us sunday on state of the union, 9 00 a. M. And noon eastern. Ill have an exclusive interview with president ial candidate senator cory booker. Ill also speak to president ial candidate Amy Klobuchar, both of them running for president. Its at 9 00 a. M. Noon eastern coming up this sunday opinio. You can follow me on facebook and tweet the show theleadcnn. Have a great weekend. Rest in peace, peter mayhue and john singleton. Happening now, breaking news. Didnt discuss that after talking with russias Vladimir Putin for more than an hour, President Trump tells reporters they discussed the Mueller Report and putin joked the investigation was a mountain that turned into a mouse. But why didnt the president bring up all of muellers evidence of russias meddling in the u. S. Election . Contradicting pompeo. Despite what the secretary of state told me just days ago, President Trump can downplays russias role in venezuelas choose and tells reporters putin is not looking at all to get involved in venezuela. Is the president frustrated with top aides who want tougher action against venezuelas